Chasing the Demon
by Stars in the Black
Summary: Shortly after Naruto graduates from the Academy, Konohamaru has some questions about his new boss/rival.


**Author's Note: I do not own Naruto. I am thankful for the opportunity to borrow the characters for a bit lighthearted fun. Please do not copy or reproduce this story in any form or fashion.**

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Konohamaru didn't understand it, why did everyone hate is new boss/rival?

Sure, he was conflicted about whether or not he wanted to look at Uzumaki Naruto as his unquestioned leader or his biggest rival for the seat of the Hokage, but the villagers reactions to Naruto were beyond him.

Why did they look at Naruto with those eyes?

It wasn't that hard to see that they looked at Naruto much differently than they looked at himself. It was differently than they looked at anyone else in the village or in the shinobi forces. It didn't make sense at all.

People looked at Konohamaru with dubious respect, mostly from his jiji's high stature as Hokage. They either bowed to everything Konohamaru said, or they ignored his presence, but not out of hatred. It was more from his age than anything else. Sometimes he actually tested the villagers and other shinobi who watched over him to see how far their transferred respect of his jiji would allow him to get away with little things or he would say stuff even he knew was completely stupid. Sometimes it was fun just to mess with people.

Honestly, he was just tired of not being seen as his own person, full of potential, not just the Hokage's Honorable Grandson. What had he ever done to get the title of "Honorable"? Through Naruto's teachings, which started with a fist to Konohamaru's head, he had learned that respect had to be earned. Greatness was no easy road and only a brave few would ever walk it entirely. Only sweat, blood, and even tears would eventually lead to true greatness and his personal ultimate goal, respect.

So why should anyone respect little old Konohamaru, who was named for the best village in the whole world, true, but he was still just a little kid, not even graduated from the Shinobi Academy.

Then, look at Uzumaki Naruto. He was clearly a little weird. Ok, a lot weird, but then all truly great shinobi had stuff that made them a bit crazy. Most of the best in the village were either huge perverts, dressed very provocatively (he got that word from one of the elders one day, and it sounded like an insult), or just plain crazy. Most of them were a combination of all three.

Naruto, though, he had the right ideas about life. "Protect his friends and the village. Train hard. Train harder. Be the greatest Hokage ever." Now that was some logic Konohamaru could definitely get behind.

Yet, even with those amazing and admirable goals, people looked at Naruto with those hard eyes and angry expressions. Konohamaru had never seen anyone look at him like that in his life, but Naruto got that everyday.

Konohamaru first noticed it when he started hanging around Naruto. People would glare at Naruto and refuse to give him service in the shops. It was crazy and unfair. Naruto was a genin of the village. A proud warrior who would give his life to protect anyone, Konohamaru was sure of that, even if Naruto had never been tested in battle on that issue. No one in the village dared disrespect other shinobi, even the genin who were the lowest level, just a short step above an Academy Student.

That Leaf headband on Naruto's forehead, which he wore proudly and honorably from the moment he got it, meant he deserved the same respect every other Shinobi got. They were trained killers. They were mercenaries. They might be hired to play the hero or the villain at any moment. They could throw around landscape altering jutsu like it was an everyday thing, because it was.

Naruto, his boss/rival was a trained member of that society, so why disrespect someone who could easily kill 90% of the people that were his worst haters. Konohamaru was little and young, but even he wasn't that stupid.

What was worse was it wasn't just the villagers that disrespect Naruto, it was almost every person that Konohamaru had ever seen come in contact with his Boss. In fact, the only people Konohamaru had noticed that treated the first person to truly acknowledge Konohamaru for who he was correctly, were his jiji, Iruka-Sensei (Naruto's favorite teacher from the Academy), and, of course, Konohamaru himself. For his Boss, who wanted to be the greatest Hokage ever so that the whole village would acknowledge him, he definitely had a long way to go.

It's true that Naruto was a prank master, but that couldn't be the cause of all the hatred of the most orange-loving person in Konoha. Sure, some of his pranks were big, but they weren't bad enough to make everyone hate him.

As much as Konohamaru wanted to understand what was going on, he didn't want to ask Naruto about it. He could tell that while Naruto appeared to ignore the things going on around him, he saw those hard eyes and was deeply wounded by them. Konohamaru didn't want to twist the kunai anymore by making Naruto aware that he saw his mistreatment.

There was only one person to ask about it, his jiji, the Hokage. Naruto already called him jiji. They acted like they were friends, even beyond the fact that the Hokage would be Naruto's superior in the shinobi forces. Surely, his jiji would know.

Konohamaru began making his way to the Hokage's tower, hoping that his jiji wasn't to busy with work to see him. It hadn't been too long ago that he had interrupted his jiji multiple times a day to challenge him for the right to be Hokage.

That had been extremely dumb, looking back on it. Why he had ever thought that a little boy could take down a Hokage, then take over the position, Konohamaru would never know. What was even worse was that people let him try that all the time, and even encouraged his stupid plans in the case of his private tutor, Ebisu. Naruto's fist was a wake-up call that Konohamaru wished had come much earlier in his moronic attempts to take the Hokage's job.

As Konohamaru walked through the streets of Konoha, he looked at the village that he loved. How could Naruto be willing to lay down his life for people who scorned him? How was Naruto so strong that the glares and insults didn't hurt him?

He squinted up at the Hokage Monument, surrounded by the sunset. The four Hokages looking on, surveying their home with a resolved peace that said, "Our sacrifices for our home will stand the test of time." He carefully eyed each of their faces and remembered their deeds in creating the village and building it into the jewel it was today.

Someday, he wanted his face there, Naruto's too. Right beside the Yondaime….


End file.
